Tag Archives: sand

Playing around in the beach invariably involves building some kind of structure with wet sand. Humans have probably been doing this since forever, and a good number of toy and accessories have been invented over the years which purport to help or assist in the process. The Haba Baudino Spilling Funnel XXL is one such toy. It’s a hand-held funnel that fills up in part with water, and the other part with sand. You then use it to create whatever you want, since the line of sludge that comes out the tip solidifies almost instantly, turning your hand into a 3D printing head. Sure, the resolution on this won’t be stellar, and maybe you’ll have to sand some edges (see what we did there?), but in the end you’ll have your kid (or even yourself) playing around in the beach, being creative, and hopefully exercising some sort of intellectual skill that these kinds of toys are supposed to stimulate. It’s $9.49.

I was flying from there to here, and while switching planes I had the pleasure to touch some kinetic sand on display at Brookstone. I have to say I was impressed. It’s just like wet sand, only it doesn’t dry, and doesn’t stick to your fingers. It’s made from 98% sand, with some proprietary coating that gives it its special properties. You can mold it, play with it, make all kinds of shapes, and start over at will. It’s just a toy (similar to the ill fated Buckyballs) that will probably lose its appeal after some time, but at $15 for a 2.2 lbs bag, it’s safely in impulse purchase territory.

OhGizmo! is a frequently updated blog that focuses on covering items that will appeal to a very specific and often very passionate audience: the geek. Aside from the fare of innovative consumer electronic products, the reader can expect to find news about geek culture, absurd inventions, awe inspiring technology, and an ever growing assortment of articles that we like to think fit within our view of what we’re calling the Geek Lifestyle.